In a century when men confessed to God each morning only to begin again by evening, nothing was more inhabited than the closed chamber. One entered it as one enters a theatre whose curtain never rises. Here dukes lost their honour, princesses their patience, and confessors their Latin.
Quotations from the princesse Palatine (authentic)
“I have seen so many princes prefer the roundabout path that I sometimes wonder whether women have not become mere accessories in this kingdom. They speak of sins against nature: here, they are the most natural of all.”
“Debauchery here has reached its height. They think of nothing but their pleasures, and know shame only as a word.”
— Élisabeth-Charlotte of the Palatinate, known as Madame Palatine (letter of 25 April 1702, Jaeglé edition)
